Method and device for determining the expansion line of steam turbines



April 11, 1928. 5 1,666,628

' F. LGSEL METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING THE EXPANSION LINE'OF STEAM TURBINES Filed March 1925 lvwentoz L 1. aflom Max MM energy of the steam is too complicated. Bei Patented Apr. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIc FRANZ L6SEL, or BRUNN,. czEcnosLovAxm.

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING THE EXIEANSION LINE OF STEAM TURBINES.

Application filed March 9, 1925, Serial No. 14,028, and. in Austria May 6, 1924.

This invention relates to steam turbines avoid disturbances and interruptions in the operation of the turbine while testing the steam consumption,to find out the condi- I tions prevailing at any stage of the turbine, and to determine stages which do not work properly.

While in the piston engine it is easy to determine with the indicator the working of the engine, it is not so easy with thesteam turbine because the transformation of the tween these engines is a basic difference: In the piston engine, the expansion of the steam is used directly by acting upon the piston, and this process or method is indicated easily by the indicator. But in the steam turbine, the transformation of the steam energy into work is made indirectly by transforming the pressure into velocity. This process cannot be determined with the known indicator.

The mechanical work of a steam turbine is usually indicated in the entropy diagram and marked by the distance of the real ex- I pansion line from the adiabatic line. I In the entropy diagram it is possible to indicate how much work has been done and thusit shows exactly the working of the engine.

The individualpoints of the expansion line 7 could be determined by indicating the'pressure and the temperature in the superheated Zone. The steam flow in a turbine, however, interferes with the pressure and temperature measurement methods, so that great .difliculties arise in these measurements. Therefore, it is not possible to determine exactly the expansion line and to provide an instrument corresponding to the indicator of the reciprocating steam engine.

However, nothing would be more desirable for the examination of the steam turbine than a device which would make it possible to examine or test the steam turbine at any time and during its operation, without the expensive and work-disturbing steam con- .sumption tests. As theturbine consists of several. stages, it is above all desirable to know whether all of the stages workpe'rlastly, whatstage does not work. well.

Only then, when this is found out, is it possible to examine the'turbineexactly.

The invention principally consists in a method and in a measuring apparatus, by which it is made easy to measure, at any time and in any stage, the heat contents, whereby it is made possible to judge the conditions existing in the turbine at any stage, and the working of the whole engine.

The method is based upon the determina- .tion of the heat contents of the steam in any stage of the turbine.

' One embodiment of the'invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows diagrammatically a turbine equipped with the necessary apparatus for making the tests and measurements.

In the embodiment illustrated diagrammatically in the drawing n is a turbine and h a connection or pipe line including a valve 7 therein leading from the turbine to the measuring and testing apparatus. The pipe line It connects the stage or point of the turbine which is to be tested, for'instance, as indicated at the point x. This connection may be made at any suitable point or stage of the turbine. Through the pipe h, the steam flows to the measuring and testing apparatus. During the tests, the points and .85 stages to be tested may be connected, onev made or disconnected in any suitable way.

The connection of the pipe h with the individualturbine points, may be a shiftable or travelling device, or the individual testing points .of the turbine maybe connected with the main line h'by branches 9, with valves p therein, so that, by closing or openingone of the valves p, any selected point of the turbine may be connected with or disconnected from the testing apparatus. Of course, each testingpoint or, stage of the turbine could be'equipped with pipe connections 'q and units absorbed from. the stem! valves ;0 for connection with the main line h,

fspectively, as indicated inthe drawing.

The container a is connected by discharge pipe 1:, controlled by a valve 0, with. a small surface condenser b, which is also connected with the pipe h, carrying the steam to be condensed from the turbine n.

Formeasuring the pressure and temperature of the steam, suitable gauges may be provided.

The surface condenser pipe 7' with a gauged water receptacle 0, into which the cooling water is discharged. In certain cases,,a valve (not shown). could be provided in the discharge pipe 7*. The condensate is passed through pipe 70 and valve 7 form the surface condenser into a gauged receptacle (Z. The valves 6, f and g are shutofi valves. r

The measuringapparatiis illustrated operates as follows It is assumed that the stage or point 03 of the turbine, which is connected with pipe line It, is to be tested, (measured). The shutoff valves 6, and g are now open. The steam flows outoit the stage 00 through the pipe line it into the condenser b, is here condensed, and the condensate enters into the receptacle (Z which is connected with the'main condenser (not shown) of the turbine by the" pipe line Z, or, when there is a back pressure turbine, it may be connected with the exhaust, or with the same point to which the exhaust line 8 leads. The cooling water flows from the receptacle a through .the condenser hinto the receptacle 0. As

these two receptacles are gauged, it is pos- 'sible to determine the cooling" Water con sumption during the test simply by reading offor measuring; and 1t 1s 111st as easy to measure the temperature 6', 1n the receptacle a and 25 in the receptacle 0. Hence, the

water, is W- (f', l w designating the quantity of the water passed through the condenser during tho test and 15,, t the temperatures in the receptacles a and o reon the other hand, the steam-quantity passing through the condenser is measured by simbe calculated.

mometers' for measuring the temperaturesply reading oii in the gauged collector ol for the condensate, which may be for instance D kilograms, and in the same collector the temperature If, Oit'tllO- condensate, which indica-tes its heat contents. Then the heat contained in the steam before the entrance into the apparatus may be calculated accordingto following equation in which J designates the heat contents to '15,, t and 6', ind cate thert t -and t, of the waterin the receptacles a, c and d respectively. The apparatus may be so arrangedthat the collectors 0 and d are put on scales which show automatically is connected through :ated by dotted lines 0 in 1 and by full lines 9 and valves p in the le'i't side of Fig. 1, and the entirety of the points determined by" the tests shows in the JS diagram an exact picture of the working condition ot. the turbine. The device of the inventioirmakcs it possible to judge correctly the work oi the turbine and has the advantage that these tests may be made without disturbing the normal work otth'e turbine. The apparatus may be made of such dimensions thatv it canbe transported easily to the place where the tests are to be made; 1

In certain cases, it is preferable toineasure also the steam temperature of the extracted steam, and. to provide means (not shown) for measuring this temperature (for instance, thermometers) particularly'for checkmg.

The tests canbe made with a predetermined quantity of cooling water during predetermined intervals of'time. V The appara tus may be carefully insulated against heatv radiation, which will make the results still more exact, and which will facilitate the compilation of charts and tables for simply reading the results. V

It should be understood. that thepresent embodiment of the invention'is merely ill ustrative and that'many modifications in the arrangement of the apparatus andin the details of the parts will su est themselves to those skilled in the art? according to changed conditions and requirements, within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. v

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim: i

1. Method for determining the expansion line of steam turbines comprising measur-' ing the heat-contents of the steam otlindividual stages of the turbines by extracting steam from said individual stages and measuring its pressure, condensing said steam with cooling Water, measuring the temperature and weight (quantity) of the condensate of said steam and measuring the temperature and weight or quantity of said cooling water "before and after condensing said steam. I

2. Method for determining the expansion line ofsteam turbines, comprising measu-r ing the heat-contentslot the steam of individual stages of the turbine by extracting steam from said individual stages and measuring its pressure, condensing said steam with cooling Water and measuring thetemperature and Weight or quantity of the con densate of said steam and measuring the temperature and weight or quantity of said cooling water before and after condensing said steam and measuring also further the temperature of the steam extracted from said individual stages. a

3. A device for measuring and testing the Working conditions of a turbine, comprising in combination a surface condenser which is connected on the one hand with the stage of the turbine and on the other hand with a gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate, a gauged receptacle for collecting the cooling Water passed through the condenser, and means for measuring the temperature of the condensate and of the cooling Water. I

4. A device for determining the expansion line of steam turbines, comprising in combination a surface condenser, means for connecting the condenser with the stages of the turbine, a gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate, means for measuring the quantity of the cooling water used for condensing and passed through the condenser, and means for measuring the temperature of the condensate and for measuring the temperature of the cooling Water before and after condensing.

5. A device for determining the expansion line of steam turbines, comprising in combination a surface condenser, means for connecting said condenser with the stages of the turbine, a gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate, a gauged receptacle for feed ing the condenser with cooling Water, a gauged receptacle for collecting said cooling water from said condenser, and means for measuring the temperature of the condensate and means for measuring the temperature of the cooling water before and after condensing.

6. A device for determining the expansion line of steam turbines, comprising in combination a surface condenser, means for connecting said condenser with the stages of the turbine, a gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate, a gauged receptacle for feeding the condenser with cooling water, a gauged receptacle for collecting said cool ing water from said condenser, and means for measuring the temperature of the condensate and of the cooling water before and after condensing, said gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate having a con-.

nection line leading to the main condenser or exhaust of the turbine.

7. A device for determining the expansion line of steam turbines, comprising in combination a surface condenser, a pipe line for connecting said condenser With'the individual stages of theturbine,which are to uring and recording purposes, means for be tested, a pressure'gauge, manometer or suitable means for measuring the pressure in said pipe line, a gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate from said condenser and determining its quantity, a gauged receptacle for feeding the condenser with cooling Water, a gaugedyreceptacle for collecting said cooling water from saidfcondenser and determining its quantity, and means for measuring the temperature of the condensate and of the cooling water before and after condensing, said gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate having a connection line leading to the exhaust of the turbine or to the same point as the exhaust for instance to the main condenser.

8. A device for determining the'expansion line of a steam turbine, comprising in combination a surface condenser, means for connecting said condenser with the stages of the turbine, a manometer or gauge in said connection means, a receptacle for collecting the condensate, a receptacle for feeding the condenser with cooling Water, a receptacle for collecting said cooling Water, and means for Weighing said collecting receptacles and their contents for indicating automatically the contents of said receptacles, and means,-

such as thermometers, for measuring the temperature of the condensate and of the cooling water before and after condensing.

9. A device for determining the expansion line of multistage turbines, comprising in combination acondenser, a pipe-line for connecting the condenser with the turbine, said pipe-line having valve-controlled connection With the individual stages of the turbine, a gauged receptacle for collecting the condensate, a gauged receptacle for collecting the cooling water, means for measuring the quantity of the condensate and cooling water,and means for measuring the temperature of the condensate and of the cooling Water before and after condensing.

10. A device for determining the expansion line of a steam turbine, comprising in combination a condenser, a'receptacle for cooling fluid, areceptacle for cooling fluid discharged from the condenser, a connection with the condenser attachable to the turbine stages to be tested and having means for measuring the temperature and pressure of the steam, a collecting receptacle for condensed steamconnected with said condenser and with the condensing plant of the tur- .bine, means for, determining the temperature of the condensate and of the cooling Water before and after condensing and means for measuring the quantity of the condensate and cooling water collected in said collecting receptacle.

11. In a multistage turbine, in combination, means for extracting steam in small quantities from the stages of the turbine for measmeasuring the temperature and pressure of the extracted steam, a condenser for condensing the steam extracted from the stages of the turbine; means for collecting and measuring the cooling Water passed through the condenser and for determining the temperature before andafter condensing means for collecting and measuring the condensate from the condenser and for determining the temperature of the condensate, and means for connecting and disconnecting the parts comprised in this combination.

12. In a multistage turbine, the combination of controllable tapping means for exsate and for measuring the quantity and 25 temperature thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRANZ LOSEL. 

